Sad and not sure what to do...

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catwithclaws

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Sorry guys this might be long, will try and shorten the story, please be nice!!

Put my mare out on loan a couple of months ago due to finances (husband is under an IVA agreement due to debt accrued largely before we met) and a demanding baby. Spent ages looking for the right people and vetted everyone thoroughly. Thought I'd found the perfect home, they tried her lots of times in every possible situation and she was foot perfect. Drew up a BHS-style contract and off she went. Got lots of texts and pictures, they adored her, she was perfect blah blah.

Got a text last night saying that the lady's back problems have got worse and so she can't afford her any more and wants to return her. Fine I guess, these things happen. But why would you look for a second horse (she already has a gelding) knowing you have back problems - which she never mentioned to me on the many occasions she tried out my mare? Surely if you have a bad back you might think it would get worse with 2 horses to exercise/muck out etc. And to be honest I was pretty miffed to be told by text, I'm not a mean person and wouldn't have bitten her head off over the phone.

My trouble is, I really can't afford to have her back. I know what you're all going to say, I should have been prepared all the time in case this happened. But I honestly didn't think it would, they promised her a forever home even through her eventual retirement. Though I know this is no excuse.

I'm just sad because husband says we may have no other option than to PTS. I know there's far worse for a horse than PTS, but its so sad because there's nothing wrong with her! I know she's a little older (20) but she's sound, happy, in full work and likes nothing more than competing. But I just can't afford it.

Sorry, I did say it would be long, just needed to get it off my chest :o
 
Well there's not much you can do - other than obviously have your horse back.

Why would she mention a back problem to you, that at the time caused you no problems.

As for putting the horse down, well that's your decision obviously. But grass livery isn't terribly expensive.
 
Is it not better to sell your horse to prevent this from happening again? People sign loan agreements and promise the earth but at the end of the day, as long as you own her, she will be your responsibility. I'm sure that even at her age, if she's capable of being enjoyed, then someone will buy her for a nominal price
 
What a rubbish situation.

Same thing happened to my friend. She put her horse on full loan to a lovely lady. 3 months lady she said she couldn't keep him due to time and money, which is fine. Luckily he found a new loan home pretty quickly and went from the other loaner yard. 2 days after he went, the old loaner put pictures on facebook of her new horse... My friend was very upset :(

It's always difficult with horses on full loan.

Could you sell her? That way there's no comeback if you really cant afford to take it back?
 
Find some grass livery to give yourself some breathing room for a couple of months to start with.

What is the horse like?
What do you think she would be good for, safe hack, companion, schoolmaster?

Then find another home for her.
 
I wouldn't sell a 20 y/o horse - you'll have to keep price realistic so you'll have nutters and dreamers want to buy her.

Put up ads now to see if you can loan her out pretty much as soon as she comes back - grass livery for a few weeks shouldn't be much and it's a good time of year.
See if current loaner would be Ok with you showing her to people at her yard? or even if she knows anyone suitable.
Pass word around farrier/ livery yard/ instructors/ pony club etc to see if anyone knows anyone.
Set a budget and if she's not gone back on loan by end of budget then maybe the ultimate decision is the only one - but plenty of time to try for another loan home before then.
Do you still have numbers for people that tried her before that you quite liked?
 
Where there is a will strong enough, there is always a way, just sometimes takes a bit of time to figure it out. PTS wouldn't be an option for me.

You will get there one way or another.
 
I don't particularly want to sell her, because she's 20 like polosmum said, and its really important to me that she is well taken care of and not passed around. I see where everyone is coming from though.

She's a schoolmistress, perfect on the ground and a nice (if forward) ride with a very good jump. So hard because I know if she was 10 years younger I could find her a new home 50 times over - but nobody seems to want been-there-done-it older horses.

Better get advertising again then. I just feel sorry for her being unsettled again, although she never seems to mind bless her :o
 
So sad that this should happen.
There should be a better way to link up people wanting to loan, in the last few days there have bee several threads on here of people wanting to loan and not being able to find anything, and you have what most people say they are looking for
Do hope you manage to resolve without having to sell, I agree with you, when you care about an older horse you need to know what happens to them.
 
Is loaning her to a riding school or equestrian collage an option? I'd Imagine they'd probably be more likely to want to keep her for a long time (if she was what they were looking for in the first place obviously).
You can keep horses very cheaply. Just simply taking shoes off can save you hundreds each year if you haven't already done it. Grass livery can be as little as £15 a week if you shop around.
I think you have lots of options and putting to sleep should really be a last resort (if it even has to be in the equation at all). Hope everything works out okay for you.
 
Hi have you looked at the homes 4 horses site. They try and match people to horses and it looks like you can set your own terms and conditions
 
Get your horse back safely and then find a new loan home yourself. Don't ask the loaners to do it as they will offload your horse to the first person that comes along. There are numerous web sites out there to advertise on as well as local feed merchants/tack shops and word of mouth. There are plenty of good loan homes out there and some love the more mature horse as they are more settled in their ways.
 
Thank u guys :) she is on the horses4homes website, and she has been on the list to go to sparsholt college for a while, but they never came back to me so I guess they don't need any more horses right now - she would be so ideal for an equestrian college as well! I don't want PTS to be in the equation at all, I cried buckets when husband even suggested it :(
 
I have an interview/introductory day at Sparsholt next week for the horse management course.. Would you like me to check if they've got spaces/need any more horses? If so, if you want to pm me your details, I could mention it to them?

(They could've forgotten..?)
 
How big is she? I find that schoolmasters find homes easily regardless of their age. My pony went on loan through a friend of a friend, and when his loaners were having difficulty a while back, they could have found him another home a dozen times over. Id have a chat with the people who have her, and see if they know anyone who would be suitable, especially if they have an instructor, as they may have another client who would like her.
 
Jinx94 said:
I have an interview/introductory day at Sparsholt next week for the horse management course.. Would you like me to check if they've got spaces/need any more horses? If so, if you want to pm me your details, I could mention it to them?

(They could've forgotten..?)
Click to expand...

Jinx I will PM you :)

zaminda said:
How big is she? I find that schoolmasters find homes easily regardless of their age. My pony went on loan through a friend of a friend, and when his loaners were having difficulty a while back, they could have found him another home a dozen times over. Id have a chat with the people who have her, and see if they know anyone who would be suitable, especially if they have an instructor, as they may have another client who would like her.
Click to expand...

She is 16.1 and has winnings up to Foxhunter SJ, so would be ideal for someone wanting to compete upper level unaffiliated or low level affiliated, but she also works well on the flat and hacks alone or in company (though can get quite excited in company). Her current loaners have only hacked her out and their contacts are fairly limited :(
 
Maybe have a chat with the local RC in that case, I do hope you manage to find something, I would advertise her locally, possibly without her age in the ad, then discuss it with people who ring.
 
Have faith that some people will take on an oldie and cherish it. I got mine when he was 19, I was under no illusions as that he was quite limited in what he could do but he has been a perfect happy hacker. With careful vetting of new owners it could prevent this happening again with a different loan.
 
OWLIE185 said:
Get your horse back safely and then find a new loan home yourself. Don't ask the loaners to do it as they will offload your horse to the first person that comes along. There are numerous web sites out there to advertise on as well as local feed merchants/tack shops and word of mouth. There are plenty of good loan homes out there and some love the more mature horse as they are more settled in their ways.
Click to expand...

This ^^^ and previous good advice I've just taken on a 21 year old companion from my local riding school and he is just the cutest thing we have fallen for him totally:D there are good homes out there:)
 
I haven't read all the posts but I saw an advert in the local tack shop - someone over my way (Sussex) is looking to loan or purchase 16h-17.2h general all rounder, sound, good nature, older horse prefered to be kept on private land near Henfield, 5 star loving home.
PM me if you woud like the contact no. for this ad.

Otherwise have you tried your local facebook horsey sites.
 
Polos Mum said:
I wouldn't sell a 20 y/o horse - you'll have to keep price realistic so you'll have nutters and dreamers want to buy her.

Put up ads now to see if you can loan her out pretty much as soon as she comes back - grass livery for a few weeks shouldn't be much and it's a good time of year.
See if current loaner would be Ok with you showing her to people at her yard? or even if she knows anyone suitable.
Pass word around farrier/ livery yard/ instructors/ pony club etc to see if anyone knows anyone.
Set a budget and if she's not gone back on loan by end of budget then maybe the ultimate decision is the only one - but plenty of time to try for another loan home before then.
Do you still have numbers for people that tried her before that you quite liked?
Click to expand...

This is what I would do , I would not sell a twenty year old unless to special people I knew well.
 
Rycroft in Eversley Hampshire were looking for loan horses recently and they are a really nice riding school. My friend's pony is there and it really suits him and his owners, in fact the owners would prefer him to do a bit more work so they are def not worked too hard.
 
I am sure you will find someone who will bite your hand off and, if you do need to take her back is there nowhere you could put her on grass livery at least until you found a loan? It really is pretty inexpensive.
 
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